Monday, April 6, 2015

Opening Day

On this first day of Spring Break, I spent the late part of my morning and the early part of my afternoon just where I thought I would be; in the back of the Pinole Public Library.

The front of the Pinole Library

While a quite library doesn't exactly embody the week-long fiesta that is Spring Break, the "special" morning session was an incredibly informative four-hours filled with jokes and just a little bit of social awkwardness. I was accompanied by Good Don, and I got to meet his various relatives Tickled Pin Don, Shifty Don, Evil Don, Frustrated Don, Guantanamo Don, and the very unattractive Flamethrower Don. I was also accompanied by fellow Ivy League Members Rudy Suarez from Kennedy and Erin Cain from El Cerrito, both of whom were especially incredibly nice and I was more than ecstatic to meet for the first time. Together, we all took the first step in what should prove to be an exciting spring and an even more exciting, memory-filled summer.
The day went very smooth and I learned a lot of information in a very small amount of time. We began the day by going over the online art that is blogging. Being an incredibly big fan of baseball and the San Francisco Giants, I attempted to make a blog about the team back in the summer before my sophomore year, so I've had a little experience creating a blog before and the lecture served as one big refresher. Me and my fellow cohorts learned the main fundamentals behind making a blog, as well as the right way to create one and the wrong way to create one. Because it happened to be Opening Day in the baseball world, I wrote a little opinion piece on the Chicago Cubs and their internal operations.

The neighboring Pinole Tennis Courts

Following the session on blogging, we proceeded to photography, where we learned the difference between a picture taken by an actual camera compared to the standard smartphone. We were then sent out into the Pinole Library's parking lot for about 15 minutes, where my fellow cohorts and I took a couple photos of anything of interest, such as the building itself, the neighboring tennis court, or the street parallel to the building. There weren't exactly any monuments saying "take a picture of me!" so it was up to us to make our surroundings look a tad more interesting than what met the eye. Upon returning, we learned how to transfer the photos from the camera onto a computer, as well as general tips and tricks in regards to making a photo look as good as that of a professional camera, such as resolution, cropping, and red eye reduction.
To close off the day, we went over our responsibilities as cohorts, what we should expect during future dinners, and what we should pack for our trips. I was informed that Cornell has a tendency to get a little warm, which might create a little bit of a struggle for me because I love brisk, cold, foggy San Francisco-type weather rather than the hot, humid, musty Florida-type weather. While I may be whining about something relatively small, I realize that I've been given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and am more than glad to deal with a little heat if in exchange for a life changing summer. Today, I took the first of many steps in relation to the Ivy League Connection and I am more than excited for everything this program has in store.